Reminiscences of George B. Dantzig

OR/MS Today - August 2005

Reminiscences of George B. Dantzig

Never a Dull Moment with Brilliant, Caring, Witty GBD

By Mukund Thapa, Optical Fusion, Inc


	The best of times: George Dantzig and Mukund Thapa (right).

I can still clearly remember the first day I walked into George B. Dantzig's office. I had read about him in an undergraduate course on linear programming, so this was an opportunity I had looked forward to. I had just arrived at Stanford, from India, full of excitement at the thought of meeting the "Legend," and I had stood by nervously outside his office before venturing in. Within moments he made me comfortable as if I were an old friend. That was George's way.

Several years later, in 1985, I was walking to my office after teaching and George asked me into his office. After some discussions regarding software and my course, he asked if I would be willing to work on a book with him. I wasn't sure I had heard right so I paused and said I would be honored to help him (that is what I thought he meant). I expected, and would have been happy, to be acknowledged in his book. Instead, he, as generous as he was, shook my hand and said, "Then it's a deal, 50-50."

I knew George for 29 years, during 18 of which we met once a week all day to work on the books; he became a best friend. He came to all of our parties even though he hated the loud rock music my band played (he used ear plugs). The best times in my life were interactions with George; working on the books, lunches at his house and visiting every restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif. During lunches he talked about people and ideas. He had kind, positive words about everyone; and always made an effort to make everyone he met, no matter what walk of life, feel special. He was not only one of the greatest mathematicians, but a thinker and problem-solver for all types of political, economic and household problems. For example, to reduce noise from bothering his renter who lived below the dining room area, he cut open tennis balls and put them on each leg of the table and chairs.

George was always witty and had a sense of humor about everything. He used to tell me, "Eat lots of red meat because that way you won't outlive your friends." Of course, he hardly ate red meat. George joked about when, at a West Coast conference in the mid-1990s, a young man walked up to him, vigorously shook his hand, and said: "Professor Dantzig, so glad to meet you. I thought you were dead!"

George had barely spoken any words for a couple of days; but on Tuesday, a few days before he departed on his final journey, George was quite alert and talkative. After we chatted for a while, I looked around the room for a sheet of paper posted below the TV cabinet with a handwritten note that said, "Up and at 'Em." He used to say that phrase over the years to his daughter, Jessica, to encourage her. It was next to his bedside, hidden by a lamp. So I pointed to it and said, "George, I always liked that phrase." He cracked a big grin, the first I had seen in a few days, raised his right hand, moved it up and down and shouted, "Up and at 'Em" several times. He was positive until the very end.

George once said that death was nothingness, a black hole. George, I hope you were wrong and that we will meet again some day.

Reminiscences
of George B. Dantzig

The Life and Times of the 'Father of LP': By Saul I. Gass

My 'George Stories' Now Cherished Memories: By Saul I. Gass, University of Maryland

Gentle Soul Welcomed All to His World: By Richard W. Cottle

He Made Powerful Ideas Seem Simple: By Thomas L. Magnanti

Monumental Contributions Met the Test: By Arthur F. Veinott Jr.

Table of Contents

OR/MS Today Home Page

Lionheart Publishing, Inc.
506 Roswell Rd., Suite 220, Marietta, GA 30060 USA
Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969
E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com
URL: http://www.lionhrtpub.com